RESOLUTION RELATING TO APPROVAL OF A BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
DEGREE IN MARINE BIOLOGY

WHEREAS the University of Hawaii at Manoa is a Sea Grant
university, established to provide marine-related higher
education opportunities for Hawaii's citizens, and

WHEREAS the Biology Program provides a valuable service in
the form of a wide range of biology education and training
experiences to students from a wide variety of disciplines
at Manoa as well as other UH campuses, and

WHEREAS, there is currently no undergraduate degree in the
UH system that carries the name "Marine Biology" and there
is a large documented demand among high school and UH system
students for a Marine Biology major and much less demand for
the existing Marine Biology Track within the Biology major;
and

WHEREAS, the proposed program requirements are both highly
rigorous and very different from those of the existing UH
Manoa Global Environmental Science (GES) BS and the UH Hilo
Marine Science BA degrees; and

WHEREAS, the proposed curriculum is at least as rigorous as
that of the top seven ranked marine biology programs in the
country and also has some distinctive features such as field
immersion, directed research and a capstone course
requirements that distinguish it from the rest and should
attract local, US mainland and international students to
Manoa; and

WHEREAS, the proposed Marine Biology degree has the
endorsement of the UH Manoa Botany, Microbiology and Zoology
Departments, the College of Natural Sciences, the College of
Arts and Sciences, the Marine Options Program, and SOEST's
GES Program and Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology; and

WHEREAS, the proposed Marine Biology degree also has the
endorsement of the Marine Sciences Program at UH Hilo, and
the Marine Options Programs at UH West Oahu, UH Kauai, UH
Maui, UH Leeward, and UH Windward all of which seek future
formal interaction with the proposed program; and

WHEREAS, the proposed program will require significant
initial and ongoing financial support including funds for
new faculty, staff and equipment; and

WHEREAS, current course availability issues in the
introductory biology series (Biol 171/L, 172/L) would be
exacerbated by the anticipated success of the proposed
program; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the Manoa faculty senate recommends that
the proposed Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology be
approved and that the Manoa Chancellor's office provide
adequate and appropriate resources to initiate and continue
this program, including additional resources for
introductory biology courses so that it can provide a
valuable service to the University and the community.